Dozens of University of Hawaii students were protesting on campus Monday, waving signs like “budget drama costs your ohana” and chanting against potential cuts.

Hours later, top school officials responded to at least one of the demands set forth in letters they received last week from a group of graduate students.

Acting UH Manoa Chancellor Reed Dasenbrock issued a statement Monday afternoon that no teaching assistant positions in the College of Natural Sciences will be cut next spring.

Students from the University of Hawaii at Manoa protest on campus Monday.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

“Students should rest assured that the courses they need to graduate will be available and there should be no negative budget-related impact on classes and degree pathways to graduation,” he said. “To that end, all core courses will be offered in Spring 2015.”

Graduate students grew concerned after hearing that 15-25 TA jobs in the Biology Department alone were slated to be cut.

Fix UH Manoa, a group of students working to improve the quality of the school, posted the letter that a coalition of graduate students sent interim UH Manoa Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman on Nov. 11.

The letter details their concerns over the proposed budget cuts and a list of demands, including the restoration of TA positions for spring 2015 and the 2015/2016 academic year.

University of Hawaii campus security officer removes a sign after it was taped up on East West Center Road on Monday.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

The students also urged the university, in light of its budget crisis, to not accept new students into graduate programs without guaranteed support for three years; base department budgets on undergraduate enrollment; and greatly improve overall budget transparency.

“Over the past several years, schools and colleges within the Manoa campus have been spending more tuition revenue than they bring in and expending reserves to make up the difference,” Dasenbrock said. “This practice has resulted in the current fiscal situation in which Chancellor Bley-Vroman has mandated that all units stay within their annual budget allocations.

“At this time, all schools in Mānoa are evaluating their programs to make prudent financial decisions that responsibly balance program requirements with available resources.”

The students were planning a sleep-in Monday night on campus to further the protest.

University of Hawaii students set up tents on campus Monday as part of a sleep-in protest over the school’s budget.

Alana Eagle/Civil Beat